Bride-To-Be Dies From ‘Single Devastating Punch’ From Fiance Over Bus, Taxi Argument

A bride-to-be in the U.K. was tragically killed by a single punch to the face from her fiance, over an argument about whether to take a bus or a taxi home.

29-year-old Caroline Finegan apparently fell to the ground like a “bag of potatoes” after her husband-to-be, Ryan Ingham, 26, punched her with great force, presumably in a fit of rage. According to an eyewitness, Ingham ran quickly towards the victim and struck her, “like a car travelling at 40 mph.”

The force of the fatal blow was such that it broke the victim’s nose and eye socket, and swiveled her head so violently that blood vessels got torn in her neck. When Ingham called the emergency police number, 999, he can be heard telling his fiance to “get up,” alleging to the dispatch operator that she was “faking.”

Ingham may have been in shock at what he had just done to his poor fiance, or at the very least, in denial. In the call with dispatch he can clearly be heard saying: “Hello, wakey wakey. Oi monkey, get up, look you bashed your head. What you doing, your belly is showing.” Sadly, when paramedics arrived at the scene near to Shudehill bus station in Manchester, in the North of England, Finegan wasn’t breathing, and was pronounced dead in hospital later that day.

During the couple’s night out at Churchill’s pub in Manchester City Center they can be seen on CCTV arguing after leaving the pub. An eyewitness, Anthony O’Connor, who had just left work, said he heard a woman shouting and saw a man run past him:

“He ran at her at a really full speed and then came into contact with her and with the punch she completely fell to the ground. The one thing that affects me that time – and to this day – is the way she fell to the ground. The only way I can describe it is if you had a bag of potatoes and if you drop them and they crumple.

That is how she fell. As far as I am aware, the life left her instantly. She completely collapsed into the road. He did not stop running and ran four or five steps after.”

O’Connor added that Ingham dragged the victim onto the sidewalk after the punch and shook her like a rag doll in a bid to wake her up: “I think it was a total attack of thuggery. He had no respect of human life and no respect for that girl. It was wanton thuggery. There is no excuse for it.”

Ingham has denied murder but has admitted to the lesser charge of manslaughter; the case continues.